Strawberry Fields.

Today was the Strawberry Fields multi-event race in Oxnard.
My sister and I signed up for the Olympic distance relay triathlon. Here's how the day went:

We spent the night at the Best Western in Oxnard with our other sister, Kelly. Set our alarms for 4:45 AM because we had to be at the race site at 5:30 am (ouch). Left for the race before dawn, got there and got set up and waited for our start time. Dana started in the water, a 1/2 mile open ocean swim. She says it was "brutal." She then transitioned onto bicycle, taking on the 24 mile bike leg of the race. That took about an hour, meanwhile I was standing around waiting to take my turn on the run portion of the triathlon. I used this opportunity to stare at all of the beefcake dudes that were racing. total eye candy. ANYWAY. Dana finished the bike and passed the relay anklet over to me, I booked it out of the transition area and ran my ass off. 6 miles. It took me about an hour, which is about what I expected. Not too bad, considering 6 months ago I couldn't run one mile without feeling like I was going to pass out. Dana and I took 7th place in the Olympic relay. I feel like we could have done a little better, but all in all that's not bad for our first relay and my first ever 10k run!

Seriously, if you would have told me when I first moved to LA that at some point my idea of a good time would be waking up at 5 in the damn morning to run 6 miles, I would have thought you were a crazy person. No joke.


My next goal: a Duathlon (run, bike, run). I think this would be ideal for my first long solo race because I am not a strong swimmer at ALL but I want to start training on a bicycle. Fun!!

Running. pt II

I am trying to find a balance in my running training so I don't hurt myself. The process looks something like this:


being lazy >>being active >>pushing yourself >>hurting yourself* >>injuring yourself

I want to be where the asterisk is. Somewhere past pushing myself, in the "no pain, no gain" category, but certainly not seriously injuring myself. Two friends recently told me about injuries they've accrued via running and it freaked me out a little bit. On my last long run, my feet were starting to hurt kind of bad and I got paranoid.

Here's the thing about running: they say that your lung capacity expands much more quickly than the capabilities of your muscles and joints do. I am noticing this firsthand. When I started training, I would run until I couldn't breath anymore. Even when I couldn't breathe anymore, my legs and feet still felt fine. Nowadays, I no longer get winded unless I'm sprinting. My lung endurance is incredible. Now my body triggers me that it's time to stop by making me feet, legs, and knees feel like they're going to give out. The problem with this is, leg pain is a lot easier to ignore and push through than not being able to breathe is. So I think I might be pushing myself too hard, too quickly.

I think I'm going to take it easy until my 10k on Sunday. Wish me luck!!

The Executive Lifestyle.

Today I am staying at a Hampton in Agoura Hills, due to some meetings at the GC corporate office. Knowing I was going to be bored and stir crazy, I brought my running shoes with me and figured I would check out the hotel gym.

Now, I used the term "gym" loosely....... this particular room was titled the "fitness center" by the Hampton Inn, but would probably be more fitting just to say it was a stationary bike, an elliptical, and a shoddy treadmill in a dark little room. It was sort of sad, but I'll take what I can get. I did 2 miles on the treadmill, and then watched the Simpsons on the hotel television while riding the bike. Reasonable workout, all things considered!

Yesterday was yoga night, and I am officially exhausted now so goodnight!

Tomorrow: Bike ride
Friday: Yoga
Saturday: day off
Sunday: another 6 mile run

Weird day.

All day I felt so bored, fat, and lazy. The only workout I did was my abs, the only time I left the house was to go buy a bike pump from REI (which ended up not even fitting.) I was feeling completely lethargic, irritated, and ready to just cut my losses and head to bed when my friend Beaver called & invited me on a bike ride. I almost turned it down, but he managed to persuade me and basically drag me out of the house with him and his two buddies.

I am SO glad I went. I feel much better now. We just rode down to Main St., up through the Promenade, then back up Wilshire, but just that short ride turned my mood around. It's amazing how much getting a little workout makes everything seem that much better.

The annoying thing is that I still only have my 1961 Schwinn cruiser to ride around on - I need to get a road bike SO BAD. I don't know where to start or what to get though. Any suggestions? I saw this one at Performance Bikes & it was only $400 and seems like a pretty decent single speed... What do you think?

Yogi Ab Workout of Death.

So, I mentioned in a prior post that I have been doing an abdominal workout daily. Here is the rundown of the workout, if you are interested in keeping up. This workout was created by Ally at Santa Monica Power Yoga, and it is absolutely brutal. Her students call it the "ab workout of death" because she is basically the slave driver of your core strength. Here's how it goes:

1. Start by engaging your core in Dolphin pose.

Keep your body straight and your hands clasped, propping yourself on your forearms and flexed toes. Do this for 1-2 minutes, keeping your low belly engaged and flat.

2. Sit up in Boat pose, then shift your torso & arms to the right side then left side then back to the middle:


3. Then, from Boat pose, lower your torso and legs without touching the ground, then come back up to Boat. Repeat 10 or so times.


4. Lift your legs into the air and lower your torso so your shoulder blades are off the ground. Reach up with your right arm, then over with your left arm, switching back and forth as if you are climbing a rope above you. Do this for 1-2 minutes.


5. No pictures for this one, but for at least 30 seconds lay on your back with your legs straight in front of you, 3 inches from the floor. Slowly lower your right leg then switch to your left leg. Then scissor kick your legs still 3 inches from the floor for another 30 seconds minimum.

6. At least 1-2 minutes of crunches, touching your left elbow to right leg then right elbow to left leg.


And you're done! It's intense!!!

Today I ran 6 miles up the canyon then back down Sunset. I am so exhausted now. Night night.

7. Namaste.

Running.

So, I have been training to run in an Olympic length relay triathlon at the end of the month. For those who are not familiar, this means I will be doing the 10k run of the race, which is over 6 miles on foot. My training for this has consisted of running twice per week so far, and starting this week I will be doing 3 runs a week (two short, 3 mile runs and one long, 6 mile run per week). I am trying to vary it up between running on the treadmill, on the street, and on the beach, just to keep things interesting and challenging.

Sunday 06/29 I ran a 5k race in Culver City. I averaged a 9 minute mile (first mile 8 minutes, second 9 minutes, third 10 minutes because I walked a bit...), I had only gotten 5 hours sleep the night before and didn't eat breakfast, so I think that under perfect conditions I could probably consistently run an 8 minute mile. I am pretty satisfied with this, though I will continue to push myself of course. Oh, here's a random picture I found of me crossing the finish line:


funny.

Monday night, Lisa and I had some fun at the gym. We lifted weights for about an hour, it was a good time. I was able to do 20 bench presses! (granted I was only lifting the 40 lb bar, but still!) I'd like to keep up some sort of weight lifting regimen, just to stay toned. Yes, we took pictures:


This week I am planning a LONG run (my house to the beach, all the way to Santa Monica pier, then back) for Sunday, then two short runs wednesday and friday. And yoga on Tuesday and the gym on monday... perfect!!